Saturday, August 15, 2009

Summer marches on. We're still in a severe drought, and have had
a LONG string of days, with temperatures in the triple digits.

But...there are still things hanging on out there.

As you see above, the Texas Sage, cenizo, is finally blooming. This is my first experience with this plant. Others in our neighborhood have been blooming on and off all summer. Ours have not shown a sign of blooms until this last week. I have no idea what made this happen, but the bees and I are quite happy.
Other things are blooming as well....
The Upright Ruellia
A Black-eyed Susan, Rudbeckia goldstrum, brought from the old house. I hope she goes forth and multiplies. As you can maybe see, she lives inside a cage of deer mesh for her protection.
A bright periwinkle, back from being chomped after last month's Bloomday.
A fuschia colored autumn sage, salvia greggii. The ever dependable begonia.

The 'ballerina' blooms of the Pride of Barbados, dancing on the deck.

And, then there's this:

The dry creek behind the house is still.....well....dry~~very, very dry.

We've had less than 3/4 inch of rain, since mid-May.

But, look closely. There are flowers! Blooming flowers.

According to 'Native Texas Plants' by Sally Wasowski, this is Snow-on-the-Mountain, Euphorbia marginata. It says you can propagate it from seed. This may be what I need in my garden.
I'll be going out to harvest some of those seeds later on, for sure.
The deer don't eat it. It has that white, latex sap that they don't like.
These are beautiful flowers. They look fresh and happy blooming away in the heat. They must love the sun, because there are none in the shade of the Live Oaks.